Garment



Nov. 19, 1935. ABRAMS 2,021,711

GARMENT v Filed Nov. 16; 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 //l, INVENTOR- ATTORNEYS ABRAM Nov. 19 1935.

GARMENT Filed Nov. 16, 1933 I I l J D HI 11111. u JH cealed.

Patented :Nov; 19, 1935' Um'rEo STATES PATENTJOFFICE.

I lrvlngAbramaliewYorbmm ApplicationNovmber 16. ms, 801'! at. 698,264 10 Claims. A

This invention relates to improvements in garments and more particularly to improvements in garments of the type known generally as maternity dresses".

An object of the present invention is to provide a garment, the girth of which can be progressively increased as necessity arises.

Another object of the invention is to provide a dress of such character that the girth thereof has an initial limit which can be progressively increased in a simple manner.

A further object of the invention is to provide a dress in which parts thereof are secured together by longitudinal seams or rows of stitches,

certain of which scams or rows of stitching can be removed successively or selectively to progressively increase the girth of the dress.

An additional object of the invention is to pro-'' vide rows of stitching for seams of the character set forth in such fashion that all of the rows of stitching, with the exception of the rows which limit'the girth at any particular time, arecon- A stfll further object of the invention is to provide a dress incorporating the above features in which elastic materialis used to aid in maintaining' a correct fit.

In accordance with the present invention, a dress is made in the usual fashion but with the diiference that the pieces of material used in the dress are made of-oversize, so *that excess material is provided. Certain parts of the dress, principally around the shoulders, are permanently secured together since these parts will not ordinarily require alterations due development. Other parts of the dress are acj together at'each side of the the garment may under certain occasions be secured by removal of only a portion of a row of stitches. In the simplest form of the invention, the waist and skirt portions of the garment are. secured 5 garment by a primary row of stitches, and then by a plurality of sec- -ondary rows of stitches, with the result that an expanse formed of two plies of material is provided at each side of the garment with this two ply, expanse extending inwardly of the garment out of sight. Thus if the garment requires alterations to increase this girth, the secondary ,rows of stitching can be removed in toto or in part successively as the user may see fit.

In another form ofthe invention, the primary and secondary rows of stitchin are so arranged as to lie either in the back of t e garment or in the front of the garment, and a separate longitudinal panel which will conceal the area of 20 such rows of stitches is provided.

In still another form of the invention, the front of the garment is provided with a large pleat at each side thereof, which pleat normally is held in position by means of an encircling belt. The 5' loops of the pleat, however, are secured together to physiolo ic l cured together in such fashion that the girth ofthe dress, particularly around the abdomen and skirt, can be increased as occasion demands. For

this reason parts of the dress, principally the waist and skirt portions, are secured together-by meansof longitudinal rows of stitches. The rows of stitches which determine the maximum of'the dress may be called primary rows f stitches, but in addition to these primary rows of stitches, the garment is provided with a plurality of secondary rows 01' stitches which extend longitudinally I such secondary rows being of such number and so incorporated in the garment that they can be removed successively or selectively to progressively increasethe girth of the waist and the skirt portion of the garment. However, if desired, it

will not be necessary to remove an entire row of stitches, since the desirable increase of girth of inside of the garment by means of a strip of ma-. terial which may be similar to that of the garment or which may be of suitable resilient marterial as desired. This strip of material is provided with a number of secondary rows of stitches which serve to shorten the length of the strip, so that initially the garment has a predetermined girth. Asphysiological development necessitates, the girth of the garment can be increased by removing the secondary rows of stitching successively or selectively, which removal permits the two large plies at the front of thegarw ment to be extended. A belt is preferably used with this form of the invention to maintain the 40 pleats in flat position. As before stated, the strip of material between the loops of the pleat may I be made wholly ofresilient material, or,.if de- I only the central portion thereof may be of theparttobeexpanded,-

made of resilientmaterial, with the outer ex- 45 name made of non-resilient material. In either event, a good fitting garment will result.

Otherobiects, features and advantages of the vention will become apparent by reference to the following detailed description read in the light 50 of the accompanying drawings forming a part of the same, wherein Fig. 1 is a front view partially in section of a garmentembodying the invention and shown in position of minimum .line "-4. of Fig. 8.

This strip .1 vided for the reception,

smallincreaseingirtb Ii canheremoved successively,

Fig. 2 is a'similarviewof the same garment with the girth thereof increased. Fig. 3 is an enlarged section taken lyonthelinet-SofFlg.

Fig. 4 is a frontview of a garment embodying another form of the invention.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged section taken substantiallyon theline 5-5 of Fig.4.

Fig.6 isa view of a back of a. dress incorporating a further form of the invention.

Fig. 'Iis an enlarged section taken substantially on the' line 1-4 of Fig. 6.

V Fig. 8. is a view partially in section of a front of a garment having the invention included therein and showing the'front panel in position.

9 is a front view of the garment. with "the front panel removed.

T18. 10 is a section substantialtalren suhstantially'on the Referring now to the drawings and particularly to Figures 1 to 3, inclusive, ll indicates generally a dress which may he made in any suitable fashion so long as provision is made for the features of the present invention. As shown in the drawings, the invention is incorporated inthe longitudinal expanse of the dress-which is made up of a back portion l2 and a front portion it, these portions being secured IS. The front portion is provided at each side with two large pleats IS, the loops of are secured together by means of a strip of fabric l1.

of fabric l1 may be of any suitable material, either elastic or non-elastic as desired.

Also themidportionjl'cf this'strip maybemade ofelasticmaterialwhiletheendpartsareof' non-elastic materialforapurpose-toheexplained hereinafter; As shown in Fig. 3, the strip I1 is securedto the'loops of the pleats It byprimary rowsof stitches II, and in addition to these rows of stitches IS, the strip is provided at each side of the central portion with a pair of pleats or gathers heldinplacebysecondary rows of stitches II. he provided with loop are provided in the her ll. 'These loops 12 and II serve as guides for a belt 25 which therethrough and'through openings 26' to be 22, while similar loops 2 underside of'the front memintheback,andthenbuekledin'the ;front. Sincethedressisexpansihle,

ofanadjustable featurein .endisfoldedbackupon itself throught'hebuckle useismade thebeltwhercl one 21 and held in piacehy'me'ans of eoactingsnap 2|. Apiurality of sockets II are proselectively of'theeoactin'gmernberonthemdbfthehelt.-'.

Inthisform of the invention,.thedressinthe conditbnshowninrig.3isreadyf useprior 'onlytoremoveasinstitches to provide a' 'Iheserowsof stitches withthe'result gle row of secondary ened as the girth of the held together with apparent that a together as at 'Iheunderside of the strip I! may 1 .the garment and extending the full "vided in the front back, In this form,

fr: therein at each side shoulders of the the art and commonly called two way stretch material, a good fit of the garment is assured at all times. Of course, the belt 25 can be lengthdress is increased.

In the arrangement shown in Figs. 4 and 5,. 5 the front member 30 and the rear member SI of the dress are secured together by primary rows of Stitches 3! at each side andthen by three or any suitable number of secondary rows of stitches 34 at each side. A belt of the character shown 10' in Fig. 3 may be u if desired with or without the feature of crossing the belt in the back ofthe garment. In the position shown in Fig. 5, the dress has its minimum girth, which girth can be increased by removing a part of a row of secondary stitches 34, or an entire row as the occasion demands. Thus when all of the rows of secondary stitches have been successively re: moved, the front'and back members are then the -dress having maximum girth by' the opposite primary rows of stitching 32; as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 5. It will be dressso constructed presents a normal appearance at all times, since all of the secondary rows of stitches together with the primary rows of stitches are "within the confines of the garment'so that they a're'not. visible.

In the arrangement shown in Figs. 6 and "7, use may be made of a front Ill. and a back II, which, if desired, are secured together at the sides by rows of stitches 42. Parts of the back ll 1 are doubled upon themselves as shown at M, which double portions are held together by primary rows of stitches 45' and secondary rows of stitches 46. The secondary rows of stitches can be successively removed to increase the girth of the garment as desired. However, it will be apparent that instead of providing the seams with the stitches 42, a single piece of material can extend across the front of the garment around the 40 hack and be folded against a smaller insert 41 by means of thesame primary and sexodaly rows of stitches. In order that these ws of stitches may besomewhat concealed, use is made of a back panel 48 secured to the shoulders of 45 length there- This back panel 48 may be provided with preferably of adjustable length of. belt members 49,

" to be fastened together at the front of' the garment. In the arrangement shown in Figs. 8 to 10, in-- elusive, the principle is comparable to that of the dressshown in Figs. 6 and '7, with the exception that the girth'inereasing arrangement is-proof the garmentinstead of in the main body of the dres is made upof a back 5! and a front 5|, which front II has a plurality of pleats or folds held in place by means of rows of'stitches 54. Primary rows of stitches I are provided for determining the maximum Qlrthofthedress. Apanelisecuredtotlig dress covers the arrangement of pleats or folds llsothat they are not ordinarily visihle. '1his.panel it may he'provided with belt portions 51, preferably of adjustable length, for fastenlng'the garment and causing it toconformtotheshapeofthewearer.

From the foregoing it will beiseen'that the present invention in any of the forms illustrated, providesagarmentwhich canfhe adjusted in such girth thereof as occasion in girth can be aceomplisheiib'ythesuccelsiweorselectivere-' paitialfiorin-totoof-any and all of tile 1 rows of stitches retaining folds secondary rows of stitches. These secondary rows of stitches as described, serve in effect to ather the material of the dress in such fashion that the initial girth thereof is considerably less than the maximum girth. Thus, the dress provides a garment which can be made to fit the wearer at all stages of physiological development. Moreover, the garment is one which can be made to closely fit the wearer so' that the unsightliness commonly found in garments of this character is eliminated.

It will be apparent that modifications can be made in the invention without departing from the spirit thereof, in view of which it is not to be limited by the illustrated embodiments, but is to be limited only by the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

-1. In a garment of the. type described, folds in the front of the garment forming deep pleats, a strip of material joining the loops of the pleats and connected thereto by primary rows of stitches, said strip being shortened by secondary of the strip, said secondary rows of stitches being selectively removable to increase the length of the strip whereby said pleats may be expanded to increase the girth of the garment.

' 2. In a garment of the type described, folds in the'front of the garment forming deep pleats, a strip of material joining the loops of the pleats and connected thereby by primary rows of stitches, said strip being shortened by secondary rowsof stitches retaining folds of the strip, said I secondary rows of stitches being seletively removable to increase the length of the strip whereby 'said pleats may be expanded to increase the girth ;of the garment, and an adjustable length belt for holding the folds of the pleats substantially fiat.

3. In a garment of. the type described, folds in the front of the garment forming deep pleats, a strip of material joining the loops of the pleats and connected thereby by primary rows of stitches, said strip being shortenedby secondary rows ofstitches retaining folds of the strip, said secondary 'rows of stitches being selectively removable to increase the length of the strip whereby said pleats of resilient material for aiding in maintaining the shape of a garment on the wearer. I

' 4. In a garment of the type described, folds in the front of the garment forming deep-pleats,

a strip of material joining-the loops of. the pleats may be expanded to increase the girth of the garment, said strip being 3 5. In a garment of the type described, folds in the front of the garment forming deep longitudinal pleats, a strip of material inside the garment and connected to the loops of the pleats by rows of primary stitches, said strip being pro- 5 vided with pleats locked in place by secondary rows of stitches whereby the strip is shortened and said folds are maintained in pleat form, said secondary rows of stitches being selectively removable to increase the length of the strip whereby the folds of each pleat may be expanded to increase the girth of the garment.

1 6. Ina garment of the type described, folds in the front of the garment forming deep longitudinal' pleats, a strip of material inside the garl5 ment and connected to the loops of the pleats by rows of primary stitches, said strip being provided with pleats locked in place by secondary rows of stitches whereby the strip is shortened and said folds are maintained in pleat form, said secondary rows of stitches being selectively removable to increase the length' of the strip' whereby the folds of each pleat may be expanded to increase the girth of the garment, said strip being composed partially of resilient material to conform the garment to the shape of the wearer.

7. In a garment of the type described, folds in the front of the garment forming deep longitudinal pleats, a strip of material inside the garment and connected to the loops of the pleats by rows of primary stitches, said strip being provided with pleats locked in place by secondary rows of stitches whereby the strip is shortened and said folds are maintained in pleat form, said secondary rows of stitches being selectively removable to increase the length of the strip whereby the folds of each pleat may be expanded to increase the girth of the garment, said strip being composed partially of resilient material to conform the garment to the shape of the wearer, and an adjustable length belt for maintaining the folds in pleat form on the wearer.

8. In a maternity dress having united shoulder, waist and skirt portions and having a predetermined maximum girth, a plurality of longitudinal '45 rows of stitches decreasing the girth of the dress, said rows '01 stitches extending downwardly from adjacent the shoulder part of the dress the remainder of the length thereof and being removable successively in whole or in part to increase 1y substantially symmetrically from adjacent the opposite shoulder parts of the dress to overlie and ,conceal the area of the dress in which the remov able rows of stitches occur both before and after the removal of any of said rows of stitches;-

9. The arrangement set forth in claim 8 in which said panel is formed as a part of the front of the dress.

10. The arrangement set forth in claim 8 in which said panel is formed as a part of the back of the dress. v

IRVING ABRAMS. 55 

